My invention relates to testing of electrical values and to sorting according to values of miniature electronic units. These units include capacitors and resistors to be tested for capacitance values, dissipation factor values, resistance values and the like.
Such electronic units are used extensively in millions of electronic assemblies and are in growing demand. As the technology and speed in manufacturing chip capacitors and resistors has improved in recent years, a need has been generated for testing these products at a much faster and economical rate than was practiced in the past.
Due to the complex manufacturing processes involved in making chip capacitors and resistors, achieving desired values is not always accomplished and almost all chips must be tested after manufacture. There are machines commercially available to test capacitors but these machines do not operate at a rate that is compatible with present day high rates of assembly and manufacturing. The prior machines handle chips one at a time utilizing such mechanisms as vibratory feeders, vacuum pick-up mechanisms, and oscillating receptacle gates. One of the limitations of the prior machines is in handling and testing only one part at a time. It is an objective of my invention to test, classify and sort electronic units in batches. In fact, prototypes of my invention have handled, tested and categorized as high as nearly 50,000 chips per hour which is approximately five times greater than any known prior machine.
Another objective of my invention is to develop a means and a method of testing and sorting such electronic units that is simple and reliable, that reduces moving machine parts to a minimum, and that is highly accurate but may be readily adjusted to different sized and valued electronic units.
My invention will be best understood, together with additional advantages and objectives thereof, when read with reference to the drawings.